Pages

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

What Now, Barack?

Everyone is focusing on the historic nature of the election, as if there aren’t really serious issues that demand attention. Well, maybe it’s okay to go a little bit crazy and take a day or two off from life’s problems to indulge in less negative pursuits, and even to celebrate recent events.

On the other hand, the stock market that had a nice gain on Election Day took a dive the next day, perhaps signaling that the financial markets aren’t convinced that Barack Obama is the best man for the job.

So, back to reality: Now that you’ve won the election, Mr. Obama, what’s your plan?

You have inherited a down economy, which means that you really can’t implement the platform of tax increases for “the rich” or the tax cuts for the suffering middle class or the handouts to those who don’t pay income taxes without making the economy worse.

You’ve got to be very careful, Mr. President-Elect, because the people you must depend upon to help you with the economic problem—the liberals in Congress like Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and the rest—are the ones whose idiotic philosophy is most responsible for getting us into this mess to begin with.

You can’t really implement the cap and trade system for greenhouse gas emissions that will so dramatically punish the coal industry upon which we depend for so much of our electricity without sending energy prices through the roof, hurting the middle class that you say you want so badly to help, and damaging the economy of coal-producing states like West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Wyoming, Texas and Montana that depend to such a large degree on coal mining.

And that’s just the beginning. More potholes remain in the road to fame or infamy.